We Need More Political Parties

I recently wrote a column in the Ames Tribune in which I pointed out that our two political parties the Democrats and Republicans are afflicted by a “jamming” of people into each party who really should have their own political party.

The Article started with, “I just saw a headline in the Washington Post: “Eric Cantor’s tea party opponent in Va. primary may be picking up momentum.”

This is a continuation of a running tension between the three factions in the GOP — The Christian faith based, the Freedom Coalition Tea Party Libertarians and the “establishment” conservatives.

There are also moderate Republicans but their numbers are so small that we don’t count them anymore.

Here is what Congressman Cantor is facing, according to the Washington Post.

“This week, Cantor’s opponent in the June 10 primary — a tea party activist named David Brat — is gaining national attention as a potential threat to Cantor’s hold on his solidly Republican, suburban Richmond district.

“Brat has won support from some big-name conservatives and has tapped into discontent across Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.

“On Wednesday, Brat planned to travel to Washington to meet with leading conservative agitators, a sign that his effort is starting to be taken seriously at the national level.”

Most people don’t know how to analyze all of this so here is what I posted: “There are now 3 political parties in the US. The Democrats, the Republicans, the Tea Party. The problem is our system doesn’t really work with 3 parties so the Tea Party Libertarians (Rand Paul for example) have to force themselves unto the Republican Party in order to get on ballots and win elections. That creates a BIG irritation because “regular” Republicans don’t agree with many of the Tea Party Libertarian positions on issues so what you get is conflict.”

You can see what a problem this poses. It basically means that the Republicans are constantly juggling at least two strong factions in the base of the party and trying to accommodate them in the same space.

The Democrats have a similar but less visible “left/liberal” problem. The most liberal base of the Democratic Party has not been happy with many of their leaders for decades.

Jimmy Carter was a born-again Christian President who wore his faith on his sleeve.

I remember clearly how strenuously some of my liberal Democratic friends literally “hated” Carter. He was a southerner. A Christian who injected religion into his campaign was repulsive to secular and liberal democrats.

After Jimmy Carter was nominated for president, one of my friends actually stated he would not vote for him.

Bill Clinton was a president who accommodated to the Republicans so much that his positions on many issues were completely alien to the left of the party.

Clinton was a “new Democrat” who cut taxes and hobnobbed with the rich and powerful as well as accommodated to the GOP in Congress.

Today, they hate Hillary Clinton because she continues the path of snuggling up to big corporations and holding on to the super “moderate” policy positions which liberal Democrats actually think are the same as Republican positions on many issues.

Barack Obama is no less despised by the Democratic left especially because he basically implemented the Bush foreign policy and because he has been the harshest “deportation president” of any president.

The Democrats are fortunate that the liberal/left of the party has been fairly dormant although now it is gaining energy because of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Warren has become a very outspoken liberal voice, a hero, in the party and is rallying liberals who are disenchanted with the Clintons.

But it may be too late for her to challenge Hillary Clinton for the 2016 nomination for president in spite of the fact that many Democrats wish she would challenge Clinton.

The train seems to have left the station.

So for this political season it is the GOP that is faced with the challenging problem of inter party divisions between the establishment and Tea Party Libertarians.

As some wags have said “The Republicans are eating their own.”

In many places the extreme liberal or Tea Party position is a losing proposition and costs each party seats in congress. On the other hand, since all politics is local in many parts of the country the Tea Party candidates can defeat or overshadow establishment Republicans and win and “super Liberals” like Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, California or Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont can win because they are located in a very liberal state or district.